World Snooker Championship - 'Do you want to carry on?' - Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy get stuck
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Updated 02/05/2021 at 20:15 GMT
When Shaun Murphy drained a long red at the start of the 12th frame in the World Snooker Championship final it seemed as though a promising spell of potting could be on the cards. That was when master tactician Mark Selby got to the table and rolled the cue ball into the pack of reds, and the referee was left to step in and call for a re-rack that prompted groans from the crowd.
Ref calls stop to frame for re-rack as Selby and Murphy at stalemate
Mark Selby's penchant for slow, tactical frames has led to numerous re-racks at the 2021 World Snooker Championship, and there was another against Shaun Murphy.
Stuart Bingham reached boiling point against Selby on Saturday evening not long after a painstaking frame in the five-session marathon match during which the referee had to call for two re-racks. Bingham would later accuse his opponent of "gamesmanship" and of deliberately slowing the match down.
There was a similar feel to proceedings in the final on Sunday evening as Murphy, who barely missed a ball as he sought his usual free-flowing and aggressive brand of snooker, got dragged into a host of seemingly interminable safety exchanges.
That didn't seem to the be the case at the start of the 12th frame, as the 2005 champion downed a long red to kick things off, but when his options dried up with a small lead of 8-0, Selby decided it was time to stamp his mark on the action.
The Jester from Leicester rolled the cue ball up to the pack of reds and left Murphy with little choice but to then do the same, after which referee Paul Collier swiftly deemed that he and the packed Crucible crowd had seen enough.
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O'Sullivan: 'Selby will make Murphy want to take a year off!'
"Well, we could be in for a re-rack," was former world champion and Eurosport expert Joe Johnson's sage, and somewhat withering, analysis.
That was when Collier stepped in and essentially urged the players to end the frame there before it further deteriorated with an expectant crowd wanting to see some potting.
Do you want to keep going, or...?
Eurosport commentator Philip Studd explained: "Paul Collier intervening very quickly and that's absolutely sensible. We will start again.
"We've had a few in this tournament - as if this tournament was not long enough as it is!"
Selby ended up winning the marathon 12th frame to draw level with Murphy at 6-6 with the Crucible showpiece seeming to be very finely poised ahead of its conclusion on Monday.
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'I've never tried gamesmanship ever' - Selby on Bingham accusations
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